TI offers power management controllersProduct News 7/31/2012 1 commentTexas Instruments has made available power management controllers with standby power savings that will help smartphone users use less electricity with their 5-watt cube adapters, even when they are left plugged into the wall.

Amy Farrah Fowler helps Texas Instruments teachNews & Analysis 7/31/2012 14 commentsMayim Bialik, the Emmy-nominated actress who plays neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on the television show The Big Bang Theory, is going to be doing teaching gigs at schools as part of working with Texas Instruments.

Apple captive Cirrus gaggedNews & Analysis 7/31/2012 39 commentsWith almost 60 percent of its business is coming from a single customer – in this case Apple, Inc., it’s not quite kosher to call Cirrus Logic an independent fabless chip company any more.

Infineon sales hold firm, profits fallNews & Analysis 7/31/2012 3 commentsFiscal third quarter sales at chip maker Infineon were slightly ahead of previous guidance but the company confirmed its outlook that the fiscal fourth quarter would be flat.

UMC seeks partners, offers 10% share in businessNews & Analysis 7/30/2012 1 commentFoundry chip maker UMC has announced that it is offering a private equity placement for up to 10 percent of the company. There has been speculation that Qualcomm could be persuaded to purchase the stock as a means of investing in manufacturing.

Auto IC gains breathe new life into car marketNews & Analysis 7/27/2012 5 commentsEntrenched suppliers like ST, Freescale and Renesas are providing new kinds of auto electronics that are sustaining the global car market. That will make it harder for aspiring Chinese suppliers to enter a market with high barriers to entry.

FinFETs-on-SOI can double battery life, says GSSNews & Analysis 7/27/2012 12 commentsFully depleted FinFET style transistors made on SOI wafers are likely to allow about one-third the leakage current of FinFETs made on bulk silicon according to TCAD simulations performed by Gold Standard Simulations.

ARM adds weight to IoT debateNews & Analysis 7/26/2012 2 commentsARM has invited four U.K. companies to help it form an industry forum to help shape the Internet of Things. The work is being done within the U.K. initially partly to help align it with government initiatives and regulation.

Global CO2 emissions up 3% in 2011News & Analysis 7/26/2012 21 commentsAfter a 1-percent decline in 2009 and an unprecedented 5-percent surge in 2010, global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) increased by 3 percent in 2011, to 34 billion tons, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Center.

European TSV summit plannedNews & Analysis 7/26/2012 2 commentsSEMI, the international trade association that represents the interests of semiconductor equipment and materials companies, is planning for a summit meeting on 3-D packaging and through silicon via to be held in Grenoble, France, on January 22 and 23, 2013.

ARM, TSMC lead Intel in SoC, says CEO EastNews & Analysis 7/26/2012 31 commentsARM CEO Warren East is not concerned that Intel Corp. is developing a lead in process technology. This is despite the fact that FinFET technology for ARM processors may not be in volume production until the second-half of 2015, according to foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.